(Tribhuvanatha Prabhu holding Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Bombay, 1978)
Note: Tribhuvanatha Prabhu passed away on October 16, 2001. The following letter was written on the same day.
Dear Tribhuvanatha Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
It was early in 1978, just after Srila Prabhupada's departure, that I met you in India for the first time. I was chanting my japa on the rooftop of the ISKCON Lajpat Nagar temple, contemplating what to do after the disappearance of our beloved spiritual master. Everything seemed so bleak at the time. What to do at such an inauspicious period in the history of the world? I felt so sad and lonely. Suddenly you appeared from out of nowhere, a shiny faced and enthusiastic devotee who asked my name and treated me with respect, although I was just a young unknown brahmacari from Canada.
"How would you like to do something special for Srila Prabhupada?" you asked. "We have 5,000 Arabic Bhagavad-gitas printed and now sitting in Beirut, Lebanon, waiting to be distributed." You told me that Prabhupada said he would never ask anyone to preach in the Muslim countries, but whoever goes there, he'll personally take the dust from their feet on his head. Wow! Whether it was true or not, this sounded good enough for me, so I signed up immediately. You were so convincing, Prabhu, who could resist?
Somehow or other, you gathered together a ragtag group of willing brahmacaris: Avanescandra and Nikhilananda Prabhus from Germany, Mahakratu Prabhu from England, and of course, your good self. Two other devotees (Visnudutta and Ravanari Prabhus) were to meet us in Beirut. You managed to secure a van, a car, and a caravan (trailer). We all piled in and drove overland from London to Beirut. What a trip that was, especially being threatened with a knife in Ankara or being stranded in Istanbul for nine days with a broken vehicle. We had no money, but thankfully we had a large supply of "Change of Heart" tapes which we sold from shop-to-shop to keep us alive and which eventually got us to the Syrian border where we remained stranded in a no man's land for what seemed like forever. Finally we made it to Beirut (the "Switzerland of the Middle East"), but smack in the middle of a civil war. I remember saying to you, "Tribhuvanatha Prabhu, you told me it was beautiful here, but you didn't tell me there was a war going on." Your simple yet somehow satisfying reply? "Oh, I forgot!" How could anyone criticize you because even when you exaggerated you always did so to serve Srila Prabhupada.
A few of us stayed on in Lebanon to risk our lives distributing those Gitas. Ravanari Prabhu stayed in Beirut to continue his translating work. Others moved on to the Persian Gulf to raise funds for the preaching work. Various devotees came and went over the years: Visnudutta Prabhu, Brahma Prabhu, Anuttama Prabhu, Patita Pavana Prabhu, Prakasatma Prabhu, Pavanesana Prabhu, Premarasa Prabhu, and others. But you, Tribhuvanatha Prabhu, were the glue that held it all together. You were the inspiration and guiding force; and even though a few of us were arrested and held in some pretty awful conditions, we were all enlivened to continue preaching there because of your sincere dedication and example. Your enthusiasm to preach was irresistibly contagious.
After we finished distributing all those books -- and many people were literally bombed and killed the day after they received them -- I remember you decided that we should open a temple in Cairo, Egypt. But we had no money, so you said to me, "Well just go to Kuwait and collect some money from the Indian community there." Then you handed me a pile of photographs depicting various ISKCON temples and told me to show them around and ask for help in starting a preaching center in Cairo. "They'll love it," you assured me. You bought me a ticket, and I landed in Kuwait with five U.S. dollars in my pocket and no idea what to do or where to go. But you were so convinced (and convincing), that I believed you without a doubt. Armed only with a little faith in Srila Prabhupada and your words of advice, I left Kuwait a week later with two thousand dollars to start a center in Cairo. Now that was a miracle. Yet even greater was the fact that as soon as I landed in Cairo and drove through the streets by taxi, there were posters of baby Krishna and Balarama being sold on every street corner. The Egyptians love children, and although they didn't know it, they were glorifying the Supreme Lord and His elder brother, Sri Balarama. Krishna had already arrived even before us! And it wasn't long before we were holding regular programs at the local university and in our small preaching center in Zamalek, a suburb of Cairo.
I could write a book about our experiences there in the Middle East, traveling across nine countries trying our best to preach on behalf of Srila Prabhupada. However this is about you, Tribhuvanatha Prabhu -- how you were the driving force behind fulfilling the order of Srila Prabhupada to spread Krishna consciousness to every town and village of the world. In fact, there is even a quote in the Science of Self-Realization where Prabhupada said (long before we had arrived) that even the Egyptians were chanting Hare Krishna. You took that message seriously -- and fearlessly -- and you taught us by example what it meant to depend on the mercy of Krishna and the spiritual master. What greater gift can a person give to another? Therefore I'm eternally grateful to you, Tribhuvanatha Prabhu, for giving me the inspiration and the rare opportunity of putting my life on the line for the greatest spiritual master of all time. It would never have happened without you, so how can I ever thank you enough?
And how can I ever thank you for the endless talks we had in Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Beirut, and Cairo about Srila Prabhupada and his pastimes? About how pleased Srila Prabhupada was for your service in opening the Edinburgh temple? About how he rubbed your head in appreciation? About how he loved to hear your kirtans? About how he called for you in Mayapur even though you were at the back of the line behind a crowd of leaders and sannyasis? About how you gave me Srila Prabhupada's gumpsa, and even his personal slippers? About how you instilled in my heart such deep faith in Srila Prabhupada? The list goes on and on. There is actually no end to what you have given me, Prabhu, and I'm just one lone soul. There are so many others out there who can say the same, if not more, I'm sure.
Over the past few months, you have been so kind not to forget me even after all those years. I regularly received e-mails from you telling me of your condition. At all times, you reiterated your complete faith and dependence on Lord Krishna. You even promised me that if you got better you would come and visit me. Then one day a few weeks ago I received a blank message from your e-mail address. I wrote back to you inquiring about what had happened. But I never heard from you again. Then this morning I heard that you had left this world, and my heart was completely shattered. You're the best friend I ever had, and now I've lost you. I know that Srila Prabhupada has called you to perform some important service elsewhere, so I shouldn't be sad. But what am I to do now? I can only weep and pray that you'll please someday engage me in your service once again because I know that if I can serve you, then I'll still have a chance to please Srila Prabhupada. Otherwise, I'm lost and doomed. Please don't forget me, Tribhuvanatha Prabhu. I'll never forget you.
All glories to your service and love for Srila Prabhupada.
Thank you for your kindness and friendship.
Your eternal servant,
Padmapani das
.
